Sledgehammer Painting

I fill vessels with paint and destroy them in different ways to create marks, and other times I pour paint directly on the hammerhead before the strike. The sledgehammer often has so many layers of paint it ends up looking like a cartoon birthday cake with a leaning tower of colorful icing.

I raise the Sledgehammer over my head and strike down on each canvas….

BANG! The result is a multi-colored explosion which often pierces a hole through the work causing a dent in the wooden floor below. Colors race and reach outward from the center, violent splashes of paint spread and twist across each composition bouncing and crashing across the surface creating a small miracle captured in time.

The weight of the hammer striking down creates an explosion of force which causes the paint to race outward and perform unpredictable maneuvers twisting in mid-air and skimming the surface of the canvas like skipping pebbles on a pond. The intensity often causes a hole which I have learned to live with, leaving a hole that pierces through leaves room to apply a paint-soaked patch to the back of the work adding color to the ruptured canvas which dries; highlighting the aftermath of the event in much greater dimension.